Lisa Balanda

Hershey High School
Room 123
lbalanda@heshey.k12.pa.us


I hope that I am posting these explanations in the correct space.
Thank you for your assistance in this initial introduction to technology for me.

EDW 540 Course Tasks/Projects
1. Hershey High School Moodle Page
Although our administrator created two of my course pages last fall, I never did anything with them. I only updated the HHS Graduation Project under the direction of a colleague. Last week in class, I created both my American Literature and my Theatre Arts class pages. I updated both pages with my course syllabi, my "Golden Rules" document, a link to a discipline article, and some other miscellaneous documents/PBS links/YOUTUBE videos. I will continue to update these pages throughout the year as I teach these courses.
(Thanks for your help with getting me started).

2. Holden's Journey through New York City (The Catcher in the Rye with Google maps)
I am trying to plan this project (I am not going to be able to master this for the fall semester, but since I teach American Literature again in the spring, I hope to assign it at that point).

Lesson Plan Development
o Unit / Lesson Title Holden's Journey To Find the Ducks
o Concept / topic to teach Students will track the plot of The Catcher in the Rye by chronologically and geographically "following" Holden on his journey through New York City.
o PA / Local Standards addressed Under the core standards for READING, WRITING, LISTENING, & SPEAKING - The Literature Component - R 11A2.4 Identify and explain main ideas and relevant details
ALSO - R11A2.5 Summarize fictional text as a whole
ADDITIONALLY - The students will follow the "close reading" strategies throughout the entire text to demonstrate comprehension, recognition, and understanding before, during, and after the selection.
o Goals / objectives The students will follow Holden's trip during the weekend in question. They will not only track the events, but also the places that Holden visits during his weekend.
o Required materials The Catcher in the Rye novel, the timeline document, and computers for Google Earth
o Activities and procedures After the students read the book, I envision them going on a scavenger hunt to follow Holden's journey home from boarding school. They will work in small groups to "match" the events with the locations or stops along the way.
o Assessment based on goals / standards / objectives The assessment will be evaluated for accuracy. Will the students be able to correctly/accurately match Holden's location with the specific plot event of the book.
o Adaptations (for student with learning disabilities) Students with IEPs will have extended time to re-read the passage which include the stops that Holden makes.
o Extensions (for gifted students) Students can work on enrichment activities to explain landmarks on Holden's trip. Additionally, it would be fun to track the evolution of some of the buildings when Holden visited in 1951 (for example, the Biltmore and Lunt-Fontanne theatres are no longer the original names/purposes of the buildings. What now stands in the spot of the Wicker Bar? How long did Holden walk? The kids could use maps to calculate miles/blocks).
o Possible connections to other subjects Students can supplement this task with Geography courses, obviously. Additionally, I hope to eventually link this to our Psychology elective to discuss the erratic behavior of the protagonist based on his locations, the time of his journey, and the wreckless decisions he makes by stopping at some of the bars/hotels, etc.


Project 3 - Power Point presentation for class policies to supplement the syllabus and expectations of my course (this will be emailed separately)


Thank you for all of the pesonalized assistance. Your district is lucky to have you as a resource!